John Olsen: Goya’s Dog
The National Art School is proud to present John Olsen: Goya’s Dog, a powerful exploration of an extraordinary Australian artist – from his creative awakening in Spain, through the darkness that threatened to overwhelm him at times, and his ability to reach for the light, pursuing a long and acclaimed career.
John Olsen is one of the National Art School’s most renowned graduates, a NAS Fellow, AO and OBE. Goya’s Dog features over 50 major works, sketchbooks and drawings, many not seen in public for generations.
The exhibition begins in Spain during the mid-1950s when the young artist became entranced and inspired by Spanish culture – art, poetry and music – which drew him to explore a darker, more vulnerable side of his personality and experience. Another visit to Spain in the mid-1960s transformed his palette, which became more dynamic and bold.
“It was a remarkable experience because Spain was completely isolated from the modishness of the 20th century, it was still the essential heart of Europe. And then as I began to study, I became aware that even though Spain is a bright and sunny country, that its principle painting lay on the basis of tone – Velazquez, Goya, Murrillo – and somehow those earthy tones reverberated the soul of Spain.
“It was very profound … rather than thinking outwards, it made you think inwards. Still in Australia today, they like the sunny side of the world, whereas the Spanish like the shadow side of the world. I found that very intriguing.” John Olsen, February 2021
The exhibition also features Olsen’s work from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, a period when his vital urban Australian ‘larrikin’ voice emerged. The Olsen landscape became like a theatre or stage, where human drama takes place. It is vivacious, teeming with metaphysical life; in parallel with and embracing real life.
Known for the irrepressible vitality in his work and his buoyant personality, Olsen is a visual poet with a deep love of poetry underpinning his work. Yet he has also confronted darkness in his life, reflected in works such as Donde voy? Self-portrait in moments of doubt (1989). This powerfully introspective painting fits within a venerable history of western art, one which looks mortality in the face.
“I’m 93, and I’m more entranced with the dark side. Not in a mournful sense, but in a sense of enquiry.” John Olsen
Olsen has followed his lifelong urge to set sail into the unknown, delving into the landscape that takes on the form of a living being, full of emotions, foibles and beauty. Through the storms, struggles and soul-searching, he lands on moments of enlightenment, where he is able to capture the energy and elemental life forces of nature, and what it is to be human within this world.
“What I’m talking about is the artist as hunter gatherer. Being daring, and not frightened of the outcome. You’re a journeyman, in the real sense. It’s not the question of failure, it’s the question of understanding and feeling, where you’re able to inhabit your interior world.” John Olsen
EXHIBITION DATES: Friday 29 October – Saturday 27 November 2021
EXHIBITION LOCATION: NAS Gallery
OPENING HOURS: Monday–Saturday, 11am–5pm
CURATOR: Steven Alderton based on a concept by William Wright AM
Explore the exhibition
Images: John Olsen: Goya’s Dog installation view, 2021. Photos: Peter Morgan
Hear from the artist
Education Resources
The John Olsen: Goya’s Dog resource been written in line with the Years 7–10 Visual arts Syllabus and the Higher School Certificate Visual arts Syllabus, as a guide to exploring the exhibition or as a pre/post-visit resource. Tertiary students and the general public may also find the resource useful.
Teachers will be able to use this resource in conjunction with the works in the exhibition to engage in a critical and historical study of the art world and to investigate artists, artworks, worlds, and audiences from a range of cultural, political, historical and social perspectives and use these to inform their own artmaking practices.
Use the exhibition walkthrough video (top of page) to explore the artworks.
‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’, as part of Mardi Gras 2025, is now open until Saturday 8 March.
Curated by Dr Liz Bradshaw, with work by artists Kika Kereru Baker, Daniel Browning, Sam Chan, Blake Griffiths, Frankie L.A, nikita lelu, r e a, Victoria Spence, Jake Starr, Ali Tahayori, Magic Young and Justine Youssef.
Three generations of queer artists make and break language across the intersections of art, activism, poetry and performance. Through their individual aesthetics and distinct voices, together the artists disrupt histories, languages, conventional silences and institutional spaces, using and queering language to propose alternate perspectives on and interpretations of identity and ways of being.
11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday
Building 25 Project Space
Free admission, all welcome
Feb 17
NAS Library is proud to launch their 2025 Library Stairwell Gallery programming with this years LSG show for Queer Contemporary, ‘Subtexts’, opening this Thursday 13 February.
‘Subtexts’ unites four artists whose work demonstrates the complexities of queer identity, each considering their own personal relationship with queerness. The show offers alternative narratives and styles that challenge notions of queer uniformity, opting to explore the undertones and implications of queerness as a dislocated front.
‘Subtexts’ asks of the ambiguous term; Are we united by virtue of our difference, or rather the unique positions it presents us?
Featuring works by
@professional__disoppointment
@sarah_r_serfati
@theolathouras
@ziggywoodartist
Feb 9
Three generations of queer artists make and break language across the intersections of art, activism, poetry and performance in ‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’, as part of Mardi Gras 2025.
Through their individual aesthetics and distinct voices, together the artists disrupt histories, languages, conventional silences and institutional spaces, using and queering language to propose alternate perspectives on and interpretations of identity and ways of being.
Opening night Thursday 13 February, with special guests Swamp Daisies.
RSVP at link in the bio.
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Sam Chan, ‘Transfiguration’, 2024, Chillagoe White Pearl marble, mild steel, incense, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt)
Ali Tahayori, ’The four elements: fire, earth, water, air (detail)’, 2022, hand cut mirrors plaster on wood, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Daniel Kukec Photography
nikita lelu, ’I drip into a bath and drift’, 2024, glazed mid-fire paperclay, underglaze, terra sigillata, silver, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt Photography)
Magic Young, ‘Evulva’, 2024, nylon, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt)
Feb 6
We’re looking for an Exhibitions Project Officer!
The role has a focus on major Indigenous exhibition projects currently in development for the National Art School as well as touring programs. The role assists with the delivery and coordination of Gallery programs, talks, and other events in the gallery spaces.
You have a background in visual art, art history, curatorship and gallery experience. You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, along with strong organisational and project management experience.
Note this is an Identified Role and is open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only, in accordance with Section 14(D) of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act, 1977 NSW.
Application deadline extended to Sunday 9 February.
Apply at the link in bio.
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Ronan Pirozzi, `Serpentine`, 2023; `Trajectory`, 2023; `Desolate`, 2023; installation view, undo the day, NAS Gallery, Sydney, 2024, oil on welded steel, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Zan Wimberley
Feb 2
The National Art School has today announced respected Australian academic, writer and curator Dr Kristen Sharp as the next Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Kristen joins the National Art School with extensive experience in the fields of contemporary art and tertiary education having spent six years as Associate Dean Discipline, Art in the School of Art at RMIT University, and previously 9 years as Academic Lead Art History and Theory at RMIT. She will commence her new role at the National Art School on 24th February 2025.
Read the full media release at the link in bio.
Jan 30
